📖 Chapter 963 - Dao Planet’s Disregard!

17 May, 2023

At that moment, a storm broke out in the vault of heaven, and countless rays of light shone from the innumerable Planets. At the same time, five first-grade Special Planets appeared. Although the scholarly cultivator had ignored them earlier, their brightly shining light seemed to be full of renewed hope!

The light of the Planets illuminated the world, and countless paper human cutouts trembled under their light, but although five first-grade Special Planets had appeared… the Dao Planet did not!

With the ninth beat of the drum, as a sea of light erupted in the vault of heaven, the backlash from the ninth strike also broke out. The first one to be unable to bear it was the young man in black; his whole body trembled violently and he coughed up several mouthfuls of blood. His body seemed to wither, and his presence also waned. Swaying on his feet, he almost looked like he was about to fall down.

But he gritted his teeth and managed to stabilize his body, taking a black stone out from his bosom. Once the young man in black crushed the unknown black stone, it turned into a cloud of black qi that drilled into his seven orifices. His complexion immediately improved, and his originally dim vitality suddenly surged.

However, it was obvious that this stone was a vicious medicine with overbearing effects. Once used, although it could temporarily increase the young man in black’s vitality, it wouldn’t last for too long. After its effects wore off, there would surely be a terrifying price to pay.

But the young man in black didn’t care about any of that. There was only one thought in his mind, and that was to obtain the Dao Planet. Now that he had beaten the drum nine times, he looked up to the sky and searched for the Planet that occupied his mind. When he didn’t see it, his breathing grew heavy, and his eyes revealed the same madness that the scholarly cultivator had before.

“I have to make the tenth strike!”

The bell girl was the same, having reached her limits with the ninth strike, and all the organs in her body seemed to be on the verge of collapse. The bell on her wrist rang ceaselessly, and at the price of three cracks appearing in it, it managed to disperse the force of the backlash, allowing the bell girl to barely stabilize herself.

Panting heavily, she looked up at the vault of heaven. Upon failing to find the Dao Planet, just like the young man in black, madness appeared in her eyes as well.

“I have to make the tenth strike!!”

Wang Baole was similarly frenzied, his body trembling as he tried his best to calm his chaotic cultivation base. The backlash of the ninth strike made him feel like his whole body was about to collapse, but his deep foundation coupled with a divine soul that surpassed the others meant that he hadn’t yet reached his absolute limit.

"I can keep going!"

The trio’s words echoed out at almost the same time, reverberating through heaven and earth. Their auras surged as all three waved the drumsticks in their hands again, simultaneously striking the Heavenspan Drum a tenth time!

A loud boom resounded through the heavens, and the sky of the Starfall Realm seemed to flip. The sea of clouds exploded, and earthquakes erupted across the land. In the next moment, all the lights in the sky dimmed, and the vault of heaven turned pitch black!

Thanks to the scholarly cultivator’s performance earlier, everyone knew that this was a sign that the Dao Planet was about to show itself. The countless cultivators of the Starfall Empire couldn’t help but hold their breath as they stared up into the sky.

However, the young man in black couldn’t take it anymore. Blood spurted out involuntarily, half his hair turned gray in an instant, and his body fell to the ground with a thud. The drumstick in his hand shattered, turning into tiny dots of light that quickly faded away.

The bell girl also coughed up blood, and her complexion became extremely pale. Her body seemed to have been battered by a powerful force, and although she didn’t collapse, she was still forced to back up over a hundred meters away. The bell on her wrist became filled with cracks before exploding into dust, and the drumstick on her hand seemed on the verge of collapse as well.

But at that moment, the bell girl suddenly cast an unknown divine ability with great difficulty. Among the Chosen in Starfall City who had failed to obtain the qualification to beat the drum, over a dozen suddenly shook. Their bodies instantly withered, as if their vitality had been sucked away, and they let out miserable screams.

But it seemed that just their vitality wasn’t enough. A moment later, these people’s screams stopped abruptly, and they died in both body and soul. Everything that made up their lives had been stolen away by some invisible force. With these lives as the price, although the bell girl was utterly and absolutely exhausted, she managed to prevent the drumstick in her hand from crumbling!

However, long cracks still spread across the drumstick. Clearly, it could no longer be used to beat the drum and was barely maintaining its physical form. But even this was still far better than the young man in black and the scholarly cultivator!

“In the end, I…” The bell girl’s breathing was labored, but excitement filled her heart. However, when she turned her head to look at Wang Baole, her excited expression instantly froze. That was because… Wang Baole’s drumstick hadn’t collapsed, either. More than that, it didn’t even have any cracks!

“Xie. Da. Lu!!” The bell girl’s pupils contracted, and powerful killing intent broke out on her body. In her opinion, this Xie Dalu was now her only competition for the attention of the Dao Planet.

In fact, this tenth strike was Wang Baole’s limit. His body had actually exploded into fog due to the backlash just now, but he managed to force himself back together. As he hadn’t gone past his limit, the drumstick in his hand didn’t shatter or even crack.

However, Wang Baole still felt like he was running on empty. Although he could still stand, his body was completely exhausted and seemed like it would crumble at the slightest touch. However, he wasn’t anxious at all. He still had a trump card to play – the talent granted by the Planetary Nascent Soul^[1].

‘Plus… if my original body were here and fused with this clone, then even without using my Planetary Nascent Soul, I could still make the never-before-seen eleventh strike!’ Wang Baole thought proudly. Feeling the bell girl’s vicious gaze, he grinned and shot her a provocative glance.

“You…” The bell girl froze and was about to speak, but at that moment, rumbling thunder broke out in the sky. Bolts of lightning streaked across the vault of heaven, as if splitting the sky. Amid the rumbling of thunder and the countless bolts of lightning… a lofty, sovereign-like Planet appeared high in the sky!

It still didn’t fully reveal itself, only showing a vague silhouette, but the peerless arrogance on display that looked down on all living beings made everyone who saw it bow their heads.

It was the Dao Planet!

With the reverberation of the tenth beat of the drum, it appeared high in the vault of heaven, looking down on the ground as if staring at ants. Two rays of light descended, one on the young man in black and the other on the bell girl, seemingly inspecting them.

Under this light, the young man in black’s eyes filled with madness as he struggled to his feet. Raising his head to the sky, he roared to the Dao Planet with all his strength.

“Fuse with me and become my Planet. I will bring you on a slaughter across the starry sky. I won’t bring shame to the name of a Dao Planet!”

As soon as he spoke, the ray of light coming from the Dao Planet suddenly brightened, and its silhouette became clearer, as if it was moved by the young man in black’s words.

But at that moment, the bell girl actually… kneeled to the Dao Planet!

On her knees, she lifted her hands in supplication and earnestly offered worship to the Dao Planet.

“If you fuse with me, I will be the servant, and you will be the master. I will wholeheartedly assist you on your path to glory and spread the fame of a Dao Planet across the universe!”

As soon as the bell girl’s words rang out, the Dao Planet instantly brightened to an unprecedented degree, its light enveloping all of heaven and earth. Although it didn’t completely reveal itself, the fluctuations of approval coming from it made it obvious to everyone what it was thinking!

The young man in black’s expression changed, and his eyes revealed a look of disbelief. The scholarly cultivator, who had been waiting at the side in silence, also suddenly turned his head to look at the bell girl.

Even the countless paper human cutouts in the plaza all looked at the bell girl with changing expressions. This included the Starfall Emperor, whose gaze instantly turned sharp.

“No matter what race we come from, we cultivators need to have a bottom line. When fusing with a Planet to break through, the Planet must be subordinate to the cultivator. Even for a Dao Planet, this should be an ironclad principle. Why does she have to do this?” The Starfall Emperor shook its head. If the one who had said such a disgraceful thing had come from the Starfall Empire, it would definitely have punished them severely. But since it was an outsider, there was no need to bother. The sharp gaze in its eyes quickly turned into contempt.

“Fine, let’s see who this overly arrogant Dao Planet chooses.”

It wasn’t difficult to guess the Dao Planet’s choice. The ray of light shining on the bell girl grew brighter at a rate visible to the naked eye, and the rays falling on the scholarly cultivator and the young man in black swiftly dimmed before fading completely. Soon, all of the Dao Planet’s light seemed to be shining on the bell girl.

As for Wang Baole… even now, the Dao Planet continued to ignore him.

Outsiders might not notice, but this was already not the first time that Wang Baole had felt the Dao Planet’s disregard. As he looked up at it, his eyes no longer held that persistent longing, but rather a hint of rebelliousness.

“Hey, I’m not done yet!”